Plant Oil Extraction at Home

Farmers can use homemade plant extraction methods to extract essential oils from plants. Extraction processes are usually used to get oils from a specific part of a plant which can be the seed, the root, the bark or the leaves. There are four main methods that you can use to extract these oils.

Steam distillation process is used to extract oils from roots, leaves, stem, seeds and flowers. Place the raw materials in a big container with boiling water. The oils will evaporate and then they are passed through cold water in a second container which turns them into liquid. Filter the liquid to separate the oils form water.

The effleurage process, on the other hand is used to extract oils from delicate flowers such as the roses. Get a glass sheet and apply vegetable oil on it before placing it on a wooden rack. Next, place the rose petals on the glass and put it in the sun. The essential oils will mix with the vegetable oils and then you can put the soluble in a container filled with alcohol. The oils will remain in the container once the alcohol evaporates.

You can also use a solvent such as petroleum jelly to extract oils from plants. Spray the solvent on the flower to make the flower release the essence. Add alcohol to the solvent and once it dries up, the oils will be left behind. The quality of the oils will depend on the method used and the quality of raw materials.